Abstract
Scholars acknowledge the critical role of employee innovative work behavior (IWB) in facilitating organizational innovation in high-tech industries. However, the current knowledge is far from complete to paint a clear picture of how to evoke employee IWB in the Chinese high-tech industry. Many Chinese high-tech firms face a challenge moving from hierarchy-based leadership toward more employee-centered leadership styles, as the styles have different effects on employees’ IWB. This perspective may complement and sharpen the incomplete picture. Drawing on a dynamic componential model of creativity and innovation, this study proposes and tests a moderated mediation model that examines the hypothesized positive influence of servant leadership on employee IWB via meaningful work as well as the moderating role of job autonomy in this process. We collected data (N = 288) from three Chinese high-tech firms and found that employees’ perceptions of meaningful work mediate the relationship between servant leaders and IWB. We also found that this mediating relationship is conditional on the moderating role of job autonomy in the path from servant leadership to meaningful work. The results further show that the indirect effect of servant leadership on employee IWB via meaningful work exists only when job autonomy is high.
Highlights
The high-tech industry is increasingly becoming a driving force of China’s innovation capability (e.g., Zhou et al, 2017)
(e.g., Steger et al, 2012), we propose a positive association between meaningful work and employee innovative work behavior (IWB), which is defined as a series of activities for the generation, promotion, and realization of ideas for new technologies, processes, techniques, or products (Janssen, 2000; Janssen and Van Yperen, 2004; Yuan and Woodman, 2010)
Since all the data were collected from employees at a single point in time, we applied two methods to identify the potential for common method bias (CMB)
Summary
The high-tech industry is increasingly becoming a driving force of China’s innovation capability (e.g., Zhou et al, 2017). Innovative Behavior in Chinese High-Tech Firms outcomes (e.g., Tsui, 2004; Tian and Sanchez, 2017); scholars in the leadership field suggest exploring servant leadership that prioritizes employees’ IWBs (e.g., Chen et al, 2015). The necessity of exploring the role of servant leadership lies in the theoretical arguments on the positive influence of more established and well-researched leadership styles (e.g., transformational leadership) in innovation management research (e.g., Banks et al, 2018). Compared with these traditional leadership approaches, servant leadership is changing the functioning of the hierarchical pyramid by concentrating on serving employees through caring and putting them first. Because employees are often viewed as the main sources of organizational innovation, servant leadership can be vital to unlocking employees’ search for purpose and facilitating their growth toward innovative achievements (e.g., Yoshida et al, 2014)
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